BANKING group Abbey unveiled plans for another makeover yesterday - just 18 months after ditching its famous logo of a couple sheltering under an umbrella.

The company, which spent £11m on re-branding in 2003, will give its 726 branches a new image to reflect its recent change in ownership.

It is expected to cost another £8m and will feature the Abbey name alongside the flame symbol used by Spanish parent company Grupo Santander.

Details of the switch emerged as Abbey reported annual profits of £273m, following two years of heavy losses.

It said it would speed up a cost reduction programme involving the previously announced loss of 3,000 Abbey jobs.

The cost savings are part of a series of measures identified by Santander to revive the struggling UK bank. It completed the acquisition of Abbey for £9.5bn in November.

Just over a year earlier, Abbey ditched its corporate logo and shortened its high street trading name from Abbey National - part of a wider plan to "turn banking on its head" and reverse losses of £984m in 2002.

Abbey said the new logo would show it is "now part of a powerful group". The re-branding and refurbishment of branches will take place from May.

Abbey said the job cuts will be in back office operations as Abbey looks to reduce its number of administration sites from the current level of around 30.

It wants more staff in customer- facing roles and said it planned to train existing staff to boost its sales team by more than 30%.

Other priorities will see Abbey tackle "unacceptable levels" of staff turnover at branches and call centres. The company employs 24,000 people.

New Abbey chief executive Francisco Gomez-Roldan said there were signs of encourage- ment after the bank saw revenues stabilise in recent quarters. The outlook for 2005 remained "tough".

He added: "This business has huge potential. We can now realise this using Santander's strength and placing a strong emphasis on execution."